MUNCIE, Ind. — Citizen-scientist Martin Risch was one of the supporters of Rep. Sue Errington's bill to give the Indiana Department of Environmental Management more regulatory authority over concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

During a recent House Environmental Affairs Committee hearing on the bill, HB 1378, Risch — a retired U.S. Geological Survey research hydrologist and chief of ecosystems investigations at the USGS Indiana-Kentucky Water Science Center — told lawmakers:

Rural Hoosiers "need your help" to protect their water wells from nitrates and other contamination from CAFOs, aka industrial livestock farms or factory farms.

The proposed CAFO — Natural Prairie Dairy — is being inserted entirely in the former floor of Beaver Lake, the largest natural lake in Indiana until it was drained in the 1870s, according to Risch, who says a CAFO in that area will hinder joint efforts to restore the area to its natural condition.

"The Nature Conservancy owns most of the property around this proposed CAFO and is trying to restore remnants of that great marsh," Martin told The Star Press.

"The Nature Conservancy has invested enormous amounts of time and money into the Kankakee Sands Project, and we are very proud of our work here to restore and manage 8,000 acres of prairie and savanna habitat. We strive to maintain good working relationships with all of our neighbors and have been lending to Natural Prairie Dairy our technical experience in land and water management, and in environmental stewardship.

"The Nature Conservancy will remain neutral on the issue as the permitting process occurs, but whatever the outcome, we will work to ensure the best scientific practices are used to protect the valuable natural resources and environment in the Beaver Lake area.”

IDEM's approval of the dairy CAFO, which would produce more waste than a large city, is under appeal.

A new member joins the bison herd last year at The Nature Conservancy's Kankakee Sands prairie in Newton County Indiana.(Photo: Rick Katz)

Besides providing hunting opportunities, Willow Slough's waterfowl deliver "one of the great nature displays in Indiana," said Martin, who in the 1980s served as chief of the first groundwater protection unit at IDEM.

Errington, D-Muncie, secured some bipartisan support for her bill, co-authored by Republican Reps. Tom Saunders of Henry County and Ron Bacon of Warrick County.

Saunders was unable to attend the Feb. 13 hearing, at which Bacon said of CAFO operators, "We do have to eat, but we need them to be good neighbors. Instead of trying to fight each other, we need everyone to work together."

Bacon called his district's Prime Foods CAFO "not a farm but a manufacturer, an egg factory" of 2 million hens.

While backers of Errington's bill maintained they were not trying to drive CAFOs out of business, the committee's nine Republicans, who rejected the bill 9-3, were not convinced.

"Most farmers that I know that have confined feeding operations in my district, they live right there on the same property as the confined feeding operation," he said at the hearing. "So if there were such serious health concerns from residents and neighbors, don't you think farmers would be concerned about their own health and well-being?"

Prescott is married and the father of a 3-year-old boy, and the family is expecting another child in a few weeks. The family lives less than seven-tenths of a mile from a hog CAFO.

"We are all healthy and don't have any … negative side effects," Prescott went on. "My friends in the industry have not had any negative side effects. If it was such a serious health issue, don't you think these farmers would be hesitant to put their own families at risk?"

The Hoosier Environmental Council's environmental health director, Indra Frank, who holds a medical degree from Johns Hopkins University, and a master’s degree in public health from Indiana University, answered Prescott:

"When you look at things that have implications for public health, it doesn't mean everyone is going to suffer. It's kind of like with smoking. You probably know smokers who have managed to live their whole life without getting lung cancer, but smoking does increase your risk …

"If we were to study some of the families you're talking about, we might see those declines in lung function over time, but only if we were actually testing their lungs. It's possible they're not having symptoms. While the air emissions and bacteria do have potential for impacting human health, it may not be that everyone exposed is going to come down with it."

While he doesn't operate a CAFO, Prescott not only lives near one but also applies hog manure and poultry manure on his property as fertilizer — a "high-dollar commodity" that "we do not want to … wash down the creek."

Just before voting, Prescott said, "If you listen to some of this testimony, I should probably be going to see my doctor … I drink well water and live right next to a hog barn."

J.D. Prescott(Photo: Provided)

Another opponent of the bill, Rep. Michael Aylesworth, R-Hebron, a farm owner and former president of the Indiana Corn Growers Association, served under former Govs. Mitch Daniels and Mike Pence as director of IDEM's northern district regional office in South Bend.

"Instead of sound science being presented, I see a lot of subjective science, opinionated science, and not sound science backed up with data," Aylesworth said of the CAFO critics' presentation.

The size of Indiana CAFOs has increased dramatically in the past seven years, according to Kim Ferraro, attorney for Hoosier Environmental Council. The average hog CAFO has gone from 5,000 to 10,000 or more hogs during that time, while the average number of cattle in a dairy CAFO has risen from 1,000 to more than 4,000.

A controversy over a proposed CAFO for 10,560 hogs in northern Delaware County (the IDEM-approved project is tied up in court) prompted Errington to file the bill.

IDEM says it has been given "a great deal over oversight" when it comes to protecting Indiana's ground water and surface water from CAFO pollution, including control over building design and construction, manure storage, land application of manure, and enforcement power.

But as regards oversight of CAFO odors and air pollution, IDEM says there are no state or federal standards for CAFO odors, which can be addressed in local zoning ordinances.

Since Jan. 1, 2018, IDEM has issued more than 250 confined feeding operation approvals, including new construction, expansions and renewals.

Errington's bill called for limits on hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and volatile organic compounds released into the air by CAFOs; banned new CAFOs within one mile of a residence unless the owner of the residence consents or IDEM determines the CAFO can meet air pollution control limits; allowed IDEM to deny a CAFO permit if the CAFO would substantially endanger public health or the environment; authorized IDEM to revoke permits of CAFOs to prevent substantial endangerment to public health or the environment; and other regulations.

"You said you're not trying to shut down CAFOs, but I have a very rural district — more hogs than people — and with a one-mile setback you wouldn't be able to build one of these facilities probably anywhere," said Rep.Heath VanNatter, R-Kokomo,

Ferraro responded that the bill would allow a zero setback if the CAFO met pollution control standards, which could be achieved any number of ways, such as scrubbers, like those used by power plants, to control dust and gas emissions; manure amendments; advanced ventilation/methane control; feed stock additives/changes to reduce ammonia emissions; and floor drains to separate urine from feces.

Indiana's CAFOs are not family farms, Sherri Dugger, director of Indiana Farmers Union, told lawmakers. They are actually "corporate giants" that evade pollution controls, she said.

Defending her bill, Errington said the state's regulatory system "works for owners of CAFOs," but it's not working for neighbors, "or we wouldn't have all the complaints we do."

After the vote, Ferrraro issued a statement saying that "having the hearing and a full discussion on the bill was an important step in the right direction. We remain optimistic that as more and more rural Hoosiers speak up to their lawmakers about how current law is failing to protect them, members of the General Assembly will be compelled to act in the near future, for the well-being of the communities they represent.”